Tie for reenforced concrete construction



Aug. 21, 1923.

H. E. CLOUSER ET AL TIE FOR REENFORCED CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION Fired April12, 1921 INVENTORS Heavy E. Uiowser m Egar' R 77201 122021 Patented Aug,at, teas.

unite stars HARRY E. CLOUSER F STOCKTON, AND EDGAR B1. THORNTON, OF LOSANG-ELES,

' CALIFORNIA.

TIE FOR REENFORCED CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed April 12, 1921. Serial N0.460,687.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HARRY E. CLOUSER and EDGAR R. THORNTON, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Stockton and Los a Angeles, respectively,counties of San Joaquin and Los Angeles, respectively, State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tiesfor Beenforced Concrete Construction; and we do I declare the followingto be a full, clear, and

exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which forma part of this application.

This invention relates to improvements in building construction, andespecially with regard to the use of interlocking concrete block builtup to form a doublewall.

The present invention is particularly intended to show certain featuresof improvement over what is shown in our co-pending application forpatent filed February 9th, 1920, Serial No. 357,458, and allowedSeptember th, 1920, and especially as to the form of tie employed, theprincipal object of this invention being to provide a tie which will notonly firmly hold the two thicknesses of the wall in place, butinterlocks with the individual blocks as well.

Our improved ties also permit greater ease in laying up the blocks,since they aid in getting true alinement of the block with out any greatattention being necessary on the part of the mason.

Another object is to provide a tie, intended to be used with ourparticular design of block, which can be quickly and easily applied tothe blocks, and which, when once so applied, cannot easily be disturbedin such a manner a to make them fall out when other blocks are beingsuperimposed on the row below.

We have also improved the block itself, so that without destroying theinterlocking features thereof, more space is left for the necessarybinding mortar or thin grout preferably used, so that a very firm bondmay be had.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensivedevice and yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purposeswhich it is designed.

These objects we accomplish by means of such structure and relativearrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the followingspecification and claims.

In the drawings similar characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the several views.

Fig. l is a fragmentary perspective view of a double wall, showing ourimproved blorlxlks and the ties used in connection therewit Fig. 2 is adetached view of a block.

Fig. 3 is a detached view of a tie.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary cross section through a pair of adjacent blocks,showing the tie positioned therebetween.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on thedrawings, the numeral 1 represents in eneral the blocks employed, thesebeing preferably of the type shown in our co-pending application fordesign patent filed August 16th, 1920, Serial No. 403,953, theoutstanding feature of these blocks, making them interlocking, beinglongitudinal grooves 2 on their upper surfaces, and corresponding ridges3 on the under surfaces, the ridges being about the same width as thegrooves, but the latter being considerably deeper, as shown in F igj 4,both ridges and groove being preferably of curved outline.

The blocks are laid in horizontally spaced rows, so as to form a doublewall, having an air chamber or space therebetween, the advantages ofwhich construction, especially with the use of concrete as the buildingma terial, are well known.

To connect and bind the two thicknesses of the double Wall together, weprovide metal tie members 1, which are preferably made of thin sheetmetal strips of suitable width.

These ties are intended to extend from the outer edge of the outer wallto the inner edge of the inner wall, and are provided with depressions 5conforming in shape to and adapted to snugly seat in the grooves 2 ofboth horizontally disposed blocks.

It will therefore be seen that by the use of these ties, not only arethe two thicknesses held together against movement to or away from eachother, but in laying or building up the walls. they regulate anddetermine the distance therebetween, so that provided one wall is laidtrue, the other wall must of necessity be exactly parallel theretothroughout its extent.

Further, the ties, which of course are laid across the blocks beforeothers are superimposed thereon, aid in insuring of a true alinement andseating of the latter blocks, since while these ties may readily bestamped so that all are perfect duplicates of each other, the concreteblocks, when made in the ordinary commercial manner, are of necessitysomewhat rough, and cannot be absolutely depended on for exactuniformity, and besides, as previously stated, the grooves and ridgesare not the same size, which leaves room for deviation from truealinement with adjacent blocks. The ridges and grooves however arepurposely proportioned as shown, since we do not depend on these membersfor true alinement of the blocks, and valuable space is thus had whichis just sufficient to receive the thin grout or cement used to bind theblocks and which of course is essential.

At the same time, the seat of the ridges in the grooves is notdestroyed, since the blocks are not raised or separated from each otherto any extent as would be the case when the cement-was poured if saidridges and grooves exactly coincided.

For ordinary walls, "cry thin ties may be used, so that they may merelybe laid across the blocks at intervals to suit, since their thickness isa negligible quantity.

In the case of a heavy structure or one to be subjected to severestrains and shocks,

thicker ties must be used. which would separate the blocks to anundesirable extent.

The upper surface of each block (which is that surface having the ridges52 therein) is recessed at suitable intervals as shown at 6, to a widthand depth equal to the thickness of the ties to be used.

These recesses must of course be positioned so that the blocks may beinterchanged and without interfering with any transverse interlockingfeatures of the blocks themselves (such as the lugs 7 shown in Figs. 1and 2).

The blocks in the two rows are also preferably laid so that the abuttingends of the blocks in one row are half way between those of the otherrow.

We have therefore provided a full width tie recess centrally of eachblock, and a halfwidth recess at each end, which latter of coursecombines with the similar recess on the adjacent block to give thenecessary width, as shown in Fig. 1.

Each block thus gets the benefit of three ties, or as many more as canbe arranged intermediate the ends, while still allowing the blocks to beinterchanged.

From the foregoing description it will readily seen that we haveproduced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of theinvention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferredconstruction of the device, still in practice such deviations from suchdetail may be resorted to and do not form a departure from the spirit ofthe invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention what we claim as new and useful anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In building construction, building blocks therefor, a ridge along oneedge of each block, and a groove to 'co-operate with said ridge alongthe abutting edge of an adjacent block, said ridge being shallower thanthe groove whereby when the blocks are placed one on the other a tie maybe seated between said ridge and groove without causing the blocks toseparate, and space is bad for a binding material, the edges of theblocks on each side of the grooves being recessed at intervals toreceive the ties and allow the same to lie flush with said edge.

2. In building construction, the combination with building blocks laidin horizontally spaced rows, the edge-faces of adjacent blocks beingprovided with cooperating ridges and grooves, of tie strips arranged tobe positioned and extend between the blocks of each row, said tiescomprising fiat portions and intermediate bent portions shaped to lie inthe bottom of the grooves, the edge surfaces of the blocks on each sideof the blocks being recessed to receive the flat portion of the tietherein, the blockridges being shallower than the grooves whereby whenthe blocks are in position space between the ridges and grooves remainsfor the bent portion of the ties without recessing the ridges or groovesto accommodate the same.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures.

HARRY E. CLOUSER. EDGAR R. THORNTON.

